A/C stopped working on 05

[dano]

I have an 05 Expy. Drove it this past Saturday to work and A/C worked fine. Hopped in Sunday morning for the commute to work and it would not get cold. After work, checked compressor and it didn't come on. Checked fuses associated with A/C and they were ok. Checked relay, and that was okay. What should I look for next?
This Expy is a Limited, and it has rear a/c too.
I do not have a set of gauges, so I cannot check the static pressure.
I thought I read somewhere that I can jump a couple "pins" quick to make sure the compressor is working, but I cannot find where I read it.
So if anyone has some other things I should be checking out, I'd sure appreciate knowing,
thanks, dano

 

[stamp11127]

You need to know the static pressure and then the system pressures when the compressor is running.
The low pressure switch may be located on the accumulator. If it isn't then it will be somewhere on the suction line prior to the compressor. That is the first switch to jump for testing. The other alternative would be to check for power at the compressor coil when the system is turned on.

 

[dano]

A/C on 05 stopped working

stamp 11127,
Thanks for that info. Don't know if this is the same process, but I had a couple of the wally world a/c recharge kit, gauges lying around, so I put one on the low port, and got 0 pressure. Just to make sure it was working, took the same gauge and put it on my old lincoln's low port and got a reading of almost 70, static. Is it safe to say that I've sprang a leak somewhere?
And if it did spring a leak, is there a part or place that Expeditions are known to have problems? This is a Limited, and has rear air too.
Thanks for any information.
dano

 

[Spades]

Inspect the joints, the O-ring at the condenser joint failed on mine, went to Ford and they just gave it to me for free. A dead giveaway would be a green-ish drip mark, if its a pinhole leak somewhere then you will need the UV dye and lighting to locate it. Good luck... i hate AC leaks

 

[stamp11127]

Those "wonder" cans are basically useless except for being able to read "0".
Yes you can take that reading as indicating a leak in the system. Any part of the system can be the source of the leak, so just changing parts will be a waste of time and money until you get the correct part. Seeing that you have rear air also it would be very expensive.
What is your budget? Most a/c repairs will be over a grand if the shop just changes the compressor and accumulator. And the cost of the labor will usually cover the tools to do your own repair.

Most common leaks occur at the o-rings, service ports, compressor seal, hoses then major components. The condenser will usually take a beating and spring a pin hole leak but not always.

You need to diagnose the source of the leak first - with rear air it can be anywhere.

 

[Skauber]

I think an electronic sniffer, leak detector is not too expensive to buy. Here's a number of them on ebay:

Refrigerant Leak Detector | eBay

This is really helpful to find a leak, but it will of course require that there are freon in the system...

 

[dano]

Okay thanks for all the info guys...but I got ants in my pants, and crawled under the darn thing to find some greenish oil on the front axle...right under the compressor, so I took the compressor out, and guess what, it doesn't look as if there is anything wrong with either the compressor or the manifold assembly. Is there a way to check the compressor off the vehicle?
If not, I'm putting it back together and gonna have to take it somewhere for a diagnosis.

 

[stamp11127]

Compressors have a relief port that opens under very high pressures. They also tend to leak at the shaft seal. The typical tech doesn't have the test equipment to diagnose a compressor off the vehicle.